The 24th CPI-M Kerala state conference which concluded in Kollam on Sunday, has elected incumbent MV Govindan as the state secretary of the party.

The 71-year-old Govindan would lead the party for the next three-year period, which may witness the local body polls this year and the assembly election towards the beginning of 2026.

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Govindan, who is also a member of the CPI-M Politbureau, had first assumed the role of state secretary on August 28, 2022, after the late Kodiyeri Balakrishnan stepped down due to health concerns.

The state conference elected an 89-member state committee and 17-member state secretariat. The state leadership has included more youngsters while women representation remained the same. A slew of senior leaders including A K Balan, P K Sreemathy, Anavoor Nagappan, Gopi Kottamurickal, P Nandakumar, NR Balan and MK Kannan were dropped from the state committee due to the 75-year-age cap

Former state health minister and senior women leader KK Shailaja, who’s already a central committee member, is the surprise entry into the secretariat. Two other new faces who made it to the state secretariat include Kannur district secretary MV Jayarajan and Ernakulam district secretary CN Mohanan. Senior leaders AK Balan, PK Sreemathy and Anavoor Nagappan were dropped from state secretariat. It was expected that senior party leader P Jayarajan, who was overlooked in 2022 for allegedly attempting to form a personality cult around him would be elevated to the Secretariat this time .But it did not happen; he would have to remain content with his place in the state Committee.

In the 89-member CPI-M state Committee, 17 are fresh faces.
Of the 17 new faces, two are women-higher education minister R Bindu and CPI-M’s Kongad MLA K Shanthakumari. Though health minister Veena George has not been included, she has been inducted as a special invitee to the state committee.

The new faces in the state committee include Biju Kandakkai, John Brittas, DYFI secretary VK Sanoj, president V Waseef, S Jayamohan of Kollam, M Prakashan Master of Kannur, K Santhakumari of Palakkad, Minister R Bindu, Kochi Mayor M Anil Kumar, K Prasad of Alappuzha, TR Reghunath of Kottayam and Vamanapuram MLA DK Murali in addition to five new district secretaries – M Rajagopal (Kasaragod), VP Anil (Malappuram), K Rafique (Wayanad), KV Abdul Khader (Thrissur) and M Mehboob (Kozhikode).